Property Law

Following on from the introduction of Tenancy Deposits Schemes on 6 April 2007, the Housing Act 2004 has now been amended further to expand and give more protection to Tenants and deposits paid under Assured Shorthold Tenancies. Previously, a landlord was required to protect a deposit under a tenancy deposit scheme and had to do so […]

The British Beer and Pub Association says that around 30 pubs close every week in the UK blaming closures on factors such as high taxes on beer, competition from supermarkets selling cheap alcohol and changing demographics. Whilst it is perhaps laudable that the government has chosen to act to arrest this decline it has perhaps […]

The government has announced the Help to Buy: ISA. First-time buyers who choose to save through a Help to Buy: ISA will receive a government bonus, which will be calculated and paid when they buy their first home. The government bonus: will only be made available for home purchase; can only be put toward homes […]

The duty of care owed by surveyors/valuers to their clients was recently considered by the High Court in the case of Freemont (Denbigh) Limited –v- Knight Frank LLP. The case involved a valuer employed by Knight Frank who had been instructed by Freemont to provide a valuation of a plot of land for the purposes of […]

Fracking is a live issue and isn’t going away any time soon. Fracking is essentially a way for companies to get shale gas out of the ground by using high pressure water and chemicals. There are many environmental, political and economic arguments surrounding what some may see as a controversial method of extracting a natural […]

Protection for tenancy deposits came into force on 6 April 2007, arising from the HousingAct 2004. The main requirements were that any landlord accepting a deposit for an Assured Shorthold Tenancy from that date onwards must protect it in an authorised scheme, and must provide the tenant with ‘prescribed information’ about the scheme and the […]

Commercial property owners are often faced with a dilemma, whether to grant access to a Tenant on a short term basis whilst a lease is agreed or whether to hold out and insist that the lease is completed. It is important that landowners/tenants are aware of the implications of agreeing early access to a Tenant, […]

Gordon Ramsay yesterday lost a long running Court case in which he claimed he was not liable to pay alleged outstanding rent payments. Ramsay, well known for his string of outspoken cooking programmes, had issued proceedings seeking a declaration that his signature on a lease (which purported to personally guarantee the obligation to pay rent) […]

Contaminated land is the biggest environmental issue with which property lawyers in the UK are faced today and it is estimated that 25% of UK land is contaminated. The Contaminated Land Regime (CLR) came into effect in April 2000 and applies to all land whether residential, commercial, industrial or agricultural. It also applies to controlled […]

Much like the hairstyle of choice for the ‘80s, a hastily signed waiver letter by a Landlord may seem like a good idea at the time but, with the benefit of hindsight, could prove itself to be a regrettable mistake. It’s a common enough situation; a Tenant is expecting the arrival of machinery or equipment, […]

The VAT element of a commercial property transaction is important for all parties involved (buyers, sellers, landlords, tenants and of course their respective solicitors) and it is critical for VAT to be addressed at the outset of every transaction and, crucially, to be specifically addressed in the contract itself. A commercial property developer/landlord is able […]

Seeking contributions towards the maintenance of a shared estate road can be tricky, especially if the estate road owner is not in the habit of maintaining and repairing the road and recovering costs from the parties that benefit from a right to use it. Generally speaking, positive covenants do not ‘run with the land’. This […]